He won’t be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He probably won’t make an All-Star team. And I’d even bet he’ll never average over 18 points per game in a season. However, Steven Adams is one of those players every team needs.
He’s not your typical star. Appreciating his nuance takes a refined palette who enjoys the brutish facets of basketball. In this case, Adams is a full-bodied Barolo and I’m picking up notes of licorice and vanilla.
Adams’ excellence subsists in the margins of the game, so it often gets unadmired or overlooked. Of course, it’s easy to get overshadowed when you share a court with supernova incarnate, Russell Westbrook. The Big Kiwi may not have the same eye-popping stats as the reigning MVP, but he has a near-equal effect on the Thunder.
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And that makes perfect sense. He’s the Westbrook soldier. He’s the ultimate henchman. He sets an endless barrage of screens like a sentient brick wall and each of them will knock the air out of your lungs. He does all the gritty work without crossing into the Pachulia Zone of dirty play. Next time you get the chance to watch Oklahoma City, pay special attention to all the contributions he makes.
Check out the clip below. Adams snares an offensive rebound in the middle of three defenders then finishes through contact for an and-1:
Yes, the hard-nosed basket is what stands out, but go back and watch him before he grabs the board. Look at the way Adams positions himself at the last second through hand-fighting and jostling with Alex Len. That’s what makes it all happen. The rebound and bucket while getting fouled? Just the result of the groundwork he laid while the off-target Carmelo Anthony 3 was in the air.
Adams goes that extra mile, doing everything he can for his team to win. He even leads the league in offensive rebounds off missed free throws, something most players don’t even bother exerting effort for.
That extra energy translates to the other end as well, where he holds together the Thunder’s interior defense:
Adams isn’t just some inept hustle player, though. He came a long way since getting selected 12th overall in 2013. He’s putting up career-highs this season in basically every stat. More importantly, he went from being the awkward tall guy in your freshman dorm to looking like the video game boss you fight before reaching the final boss.
Aside from being an inordinately large human who tries inordinately hard, he’s a great teammate. He and Westbrook forged an iron-clad bond and they now run an effective two-man game:
Oh, you want deftness in the post? He’s got deftness in the post:
And if you send the double-team, he’ll smartly kick it out then post right back up again:
His improvement should garner more touches on offense, but he won’t complain about it. That’s not in his nature.
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Could you argue he’s a top-5 center in the league? Depends on your definition of a center. If we distill the ambiguous position down to skilled bigs — your Anthony Davises, Joel Embiids, etc — and big goons — Adams, Andre Drummond, et al — I’d definitely put him as one of the biggest and best goons the NBA has to offer. Plus, he’s a goon with skills to boot. Only a skilled goon could describe their upcoming autobiography as profoundly and tersely as “a book about myself.”
Steven Adams: Kiwi, skilled goon, League Pass favorite and the type of guy every team needs.